Knitting of stocking toes on circular knitting machines

ABSTRACT

A circular hosiery knitting machine closes the toe pocket of hose during its formation, the toe closure is accomplished by holding the starting end of suitable yarn, forming a selvage course of the yarn spaced needles by rotary knitting, forming a plurality of following courses of the yarn upon progressively increasing numbers of needles by rotary knitting until all of the needles are so used, exerting yieldable tension upon the starting end of the yarn during the formation of the courses thereby diametrically constricting the same, the so constricted courses progressively increasing in size and in number of wales to form a circularly shaped fabric area extending across the bore of the needle cylinder, discontinuing the tension on the starting end of the yarn and knitting the remainder of the hose on the needles, the circular fabric constituting the closed toe pocket. Apparatus on the machine including a hook to engage and to pull the yarn, extending from its guide to a first clamp on the machine, to transfer the starting end of the yarn from the first clamp to be held in a second clamp spaced from the needle cylinder and a spring mounted roller to deflect the yarn extending between the second clamp and the needle cylinder to tension the starting end of the yarn.

[ KNITTING OF STOCKING TOES ON CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES [75] Inventor: Franco Gariboldi, Condove, Italy [73] Assignee: Officine Moncenisio gia Anonima Bauchiero, Condove, Turin, Italy [22] Filed: June 2, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 149,322

I Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 851,265, Aug. 19, 1969,

abandoned.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 5, 1968 Italy 53050 A/68.

Feb. 1, 1969 Italy 50390 A/69 [52] US. Cl. 66/9 R, 66/125 R, 66/145 S, 66/187 [51] Int. Cl. D04b 9/16, D04b 9/56 [58] Field of Search 66/9 R, 187, 125 R, 66/131, 133,172 R, 172 E, 140 S, 145 S, 146

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,714,801 2/1973 Janda 66/173 3,550,402 12/1970 Colton 66/ 187 X 3,626,726 12/1971 Findlay et a1. 66/ 187 X R2497] 4/1961 Getaz......... 66/172 R 1226,667 9/1969 Sarbo 66/172 R 966,746 8/1910 Hoefer et al.. 66/9 X 1,520,162 12/1924 Vittori et a1. 66/146 X 2,506,745 5/ 1950 Schuessler 66/172 X 3,055,199 9/1962 Stack 66/140 S 3,120,115 2/1964 Reymes-Cole... 66/125 R 3,226,954 l/1966 Fregeolle 66/125 R 3,236,070 2/1966 Clayton, Jr 66/187 UX Dec. 4, 1973 3,359,759 12/1967 Mattingly et al 66/125 R 3,387,468 6/ 1968 Mattingly et aL. 3,575,019 4/1971 .landa 66/187 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Primary Examiner-Wm. Carter Reynolds AttorneyLouis Necho 57 ABSTRACT A circular hosiery. knitting machine closes the toe pocket of hose during its formation, the toe closure is accomplished by holding the starting end of suitable yarn, forming a selvage course of the yam spaced needles by rotary knitting, forming a plurality of following courses of the yarn upon progressively increasing numbers of needles by rotary knitting until all of the needles are so used, exerting yieldable tension upon the starting end of the yarn during the formation of transfer the starting end of the yarn from the first clamp to be held in a second clamp spaced from the needle cylinder and a spring mounted roller to deflect the yarn extending between the second clampand the needle cylinder to tension the starting end of the yarn.

20 Claims, 23 Drawing Figures 6/1945 Great Britain 66/125 R PATENTEBUEE 4197s saw 02 0F 15 all \ q llll PATENTEDUEB 41m SHEET DMIF 15 PATENTED DEC 41975 SHEET 0E 0F 15 1 7 (k Q D D G c PATENTEUDEE 4 ms PATENTEU 41975 3,776,000

SHEET OBDF 15 SHEET 100F 15 PATENTED DEC 4 I375 SHEEI 11 0F 15 Amm PATENTED 4 75 SHEET 12!]? 15 m in mm PATENTEUUEE 41575 SHEET 1H0 15 Fig. 20

2 I u $50 a KNITTING OF STOCKINGTOES N CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES The present application is a division of application Ser. No. 851,265, filed Aug. 19, 1969, now abandoned.

The present invention relates generally to the art of knitting and more particularly to hosiery and to the method and machine for the production thereof, and has particular reference to the foot portion of hosiery which is provided with a closed toe made of a single ply of circularly knit plain fabric and which is closed during the formation thereof by rotary knitting on a circular knitting machine.

As set forth'in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 26,580, hosiery having a closed toe made by rotary knitting during the formation thereof has heretofore been produced. Such closed toe hosiery is made upon a circular knitting machine which must be equipped with a welt transfer dial in order to make the two ply turned welt of which the closed toe is formed. Such closed toe is made of two plys of unshaped tubular fabric which are relatively twisted, prior to the closure of the welt, to constrict the fabric to form the toe closure which is never really closed and which is bulky due to the two plys and to the presence of the twisted fabric at the end of the toe. Other hosiery having a closed toe made by rotary knitting during the formation thereof has also been heretofore produced, as set forth in the Italian Pat. No. 814,164. Such other hosiery differs from that disclosed in the U.S. Patent in that the two ply welt is constricted by turns of yarn wound around the fabric of the interior of the welt at its fold line.

The closed toe hosiery of the present invention is superior to the hosiery of the above set forth prior art in that the toe is less bulky since it is made of a single ply only of plain knit fabric and it is better fitting since the fabric forming the toe is shaped to fit the toe during the knitting. Furthermore, the closed toe of the present invention can be made upon a much simpler machine since the welt transfer dial is not needed therefor, and, in addition, the time required to make the present closed toe is approximately half the time required to make the above prior art toes, since only half the amount of fabric is required.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide closed toe hosiery having a toe formed of a circularly shaped area of plain knit fabric comprising a plurality of circularly knit courses progressively increasing in size and in number of wales, and to provide a machine and a method to make the same.

It is a'further object of the present invention to make the circularly shaped area of plain knit fabric by rotary knitting upon a circle of needles of a circular knitting machine by holding the starting end of a suitable yarn, knitting a selvage course of the yarn upon spaced needles of the circle of needles, knitting a plurality of fol lowing courses of the yarn upon progressively increasing numbers of the circle of needles until all of the needles are so used and exerting tension upon the starting end of the yarn during the formation of the courses to diametrically constrict the same, the constricted courses progressively increasing in both size and in number of wales to provide the circularly shaped plain knit fabric area.

It is a still further object to provide apparatus to hold the starting end of the yarn and to apply tension thereon during the knitting thereof, including means to transfer the starting end of the yarn from a first clamp inside the circle of needles to a second clamp spaced therefrom. I

Other objects and advantages'of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present hosiery and of the machine and method to make the same, as shown in the accompanying drawings and as pointed out in the appended claims.

IN THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of a number of consecutive latch needles and sinkers of circular series thereof at the start of the process of knitting the fabric for a closed toe pocket for the foot portion of hosiery, according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, are views similar to FIG. 1 and show subsequent steps in the process of knitting the closed toe pocket for the foot portion of hosiery, according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic plan view of the stitches and of the constricted courses of fabric made in accordance with the process shown in FIGS. 1 8, the fabric being partially completed and still on the circle of needles with the starting end of the yarnextending acrossthe circle of needles from the start of the still open selvage course.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing a modified form of selvage course with a pair of turns of the yarn therein.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the upper end of portions of a circular knitting machine; showing. the yarn being fed to the needles and showing the starting end of the yarn extending from its point of attachment in the partially constricted selvage course of the partially formed circularly knit toe pocket fabric to, and through, an aperture in the latch ring to the means exerting tension upon the yarn, the fabric courses being partially constructed and extending in a horizontal plane.

FIG. 11A is a schematic plan view, in reduced size, of the completed toe pocket fabric wherein its courses have been constricted sufficiently to fully close the opening initially present in the fabric as it is being formed and which is shown partially closed in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, the completed. fabric being circularly shaped and extending across and covering the bore of the needle cylinder;

FIG. 12 is a view in side elevation of the closed toe pocket and part of the foot portion of hosiery made with the circularly shaped knit fabric of FIG. 11A according to the present invention;

FIG. 12A is a view in side elevation of the reverse side of the toe and foot portion of FIG. 12 and shows the starting end of the yarn extending from the center of the circularly shaped knit fabric of the pocket.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 and showing a first modification of the closed toe pocket which also contains a narrowed and widened segment of fabric which is disposed on the under-the-toe side of the toe pocket while the circularly shaped knit fabric is disposed on the over'the-toe side of the toe pocket;

FIG. 14 is a view in side elevation of hosiery made upon a circular knitting machine and having a foot portion embodying the present invention, the closed toe pocket itself showing a second modification thereof which differs from the first modification of FIG. 13 in that the narrowed and widened segment of fabric is herein disposed on the over-the-toe side of the toe pocket. while the circularly shaped fabric is disposed on the under-the-toe side of the toe pocket;

FIG. 15 is a side elevational view of an attachment which co-operates with the circular knitting machine to aid in carrying out the process of the present invention, the attachment providing the means to holdthe starting end of the yarn and to apply tension thereto during the knitting of the circularly shaped fabric area, the yarn engaging hook of theattachment being inside the periphery of the circle of needles in this view;

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 15, on an enlarged scale, showing the hook in withdrawn position with engaged yarn also withdrawn into position within an opened clamp; 1

FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 16 showing the yarn held in the closed clamp and showing tension being applied by rollers to the yarn extending between the clamp and the circle of needles;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are plan views of the apparatus as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, respectively, and

FIGS. 20 and 21 are sectional views taken on lines XX xx and XXI XXI of FIGS. 15 and 19 respectively.

The present invention will be setforth in two parts, the first of which is related to the FIGS. 1 l4, and the second of which is related to the FIGS. 15 21. The FIGS. 1 14 illustrate the product of the invention and the process of forming the same upon the needles of a circular knitting machine during which it is required that the starting end of the yarn to be knit be held and be subjected to yieldable tension during the knitting thereof. Such holdingand tensioning of the starting end of the yarn may be provided in any desired manner, as by hand or by apparatus, of which one form thereof is shown in FIGS. 15 21. Accordingly, the invention will be described in relation to FIGS. 1 14 without regard to the particular manner in which the starting end of the yarn is held and tensioned, and, thereafter, the apparatus of FIGS. 15 21, which is in the form of an attachment to the machine itself, will be described to show one way of holding and tensioning the starting end of the yarn.

The product of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14, of which FIG. 12 shows the closed toe pocket T, at the end of part of a foot portion F of hosiery, the pocket being formed of a circularly shaped fabric area indicated at 6. The FIG. 12A shows the product of FIG. 12 turned inside out with the starting end of the yarn of which the fabric 6 is knit shown extending from the center of the fabric 6 at a. The FIG. 13 shows a first modification of the closed toe pocket which is formed of a narrowed end widened segment of fabric N in addition to the circular fabric 6, with the fabric-on the sole side Ta of the toe and the fabric 6 on the instep side Tb of the toe. The FIG. 14 shows a complete hose made on a circular knitting machine and having, in addition to the foot F and a second modification of the toe T, a welt W, a leg L, and a heel pocket [-1. The toe pocket of FIG. 14 is also formed of a narrowed and widened segment of fabric N in addition to the circular fabric 6, with the former now on the instep side Tb of the toe and with the latter now on the sole side Ta of the toe.

Inasmuch as the present invention is concerned with the improved toe closure for the foot portion of hosiery, or the like, of all types including boys, mens, la-

dies and pantyhose, it follows that the remaining portions of the hosiery may be made in any desired manner consistent therewith, the showing in FIG. 14 being merely illustrative of one type of hosiery embodying the present invention. The principle of the present invention may also be used to provide a closed end pocket for tubularly formed finger, hand and head coverings, or for any tubularly knit product in which it is desired to have at least one end thereof closed.

The present invention may be made upon any conventional circular knitting machine having a removable circle of needles in a moving needle cylinder (the needles and cylinder rotating to make the toe of FIG. 12 and also reciprocating to make the toes of FIGS. 13 and 14), sinkers associated with the needles, needle selecting means, a clamp and cutter for the yarn at the upper end of the needle cylinder, a latch ring and all the other usual parts thereof. Portions of such a machine are shown in FIG. 11 wherein 1 indicates a needle cylinder having therein the usual circle of vertically arranged needle slots within which needles 2 of a circle of needles are disposed for sliding movement therein. At the upper end of the needle cylinder there is a circle of radially slidable sinkers 3, alternating with the hook ends of the needles 2, the sinkers being so movable in slots in a circular sinker bed secured to the upper end of the needle cylinder, the sinker bed being covered by a sinker cap 4 which contains the usual cams to actuate the sinkers. Also provided is one of the usual plurality of yarn guides, as shown at 7, in lowered feeding position to feed a yarn 5 to the needles 2 which, by rotary knitting, have already made the circular fabric 6 of which the present novel toe pocket is to be formed. It will be noted that a length of yarn indicated at 5a in FIG. 1 1, and which is the starting end of the yarn 5, extends from its point of attachment with the starting course of the fabric 6 to, and through, an aperture 23 formed in the periphery of the usual latch ring, a portion only of which is shown at 22 in FIG. 11. The yarn end 5a extends beyond the latch ring 22 and is there held and subjected to the yielding tension, by the attachment shown in FIGS. 15 21, forming a part of the present process. It may be noted here that the portion of the yarn length 5a extending between aperture 23 and its point of attachment with the fabric 6 will assume a variety of positions in response to rotation of the fabric 6 with the needles 2, some of which are indicated by the dotted lines. Also, that the length of the portion of the yarn 5a extending between the fabric 6 and the latch ring 22 will vary during the rotation of the fabric as the point of attachment of the yarn 5a with the fabric 6 moves toward and away from the aperature 23, the tension on the yarn 5a drawing it through the aperture when permitted to do so. The starting end 5a of the yarn is under tension exerted in the direction of the arrow and this causes the courses of the fabric tobe yarn-robbed whereby their diameters are reduced and their circumferences constricted, as will be explained in connection with the FIGS. 1 10. In FIG. 11, the amount of fabric 6 already made is not in itself sufficient to permit the initially formed opening therein to be fully closed although such opening has been partially closed with the fabric extending generally horizontally.

In the FIGS. 1 10, FIGS. 1 8 schematically show the present process carried out on a group of needles of a circle thereof and the product made thereby upon the circle of needles is shown schematically in FIGS. 9 and 10, with the product in FIG. M being a modification of that shown in FIG. 9. The particular number of needles in the needle cylinder, as wellas the diameter thereof, may vary so long as the number of needles used can be divided into groups of needles, each of which is sufficient to carry out the process In the present instance, only 48 needles are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, for ease of illustration, and these are divided into six groups of eight needles and which are shown in FIGS. 1 8 wherein each pair of spaced needles, marked a and b, have seven needles, marked c, d, e, f, g, h, and i, disposed therebetween. The needles are initially bare and the needle a, at the top of FIG. 9, of the circle of needles, which move in counter-clockwise direction, is the first needle to receive the yarn 5 of which the product is to be made. I

As shown in FIG. 1, every eighth needle 2, of which needles a and b are a pair, are selected to take the yarn 5 during the first rotation of the needle cylinder, the intervening needles, 0 through i, remaining at non-yarntaking welt level while all the needles a and b are preferably at tuck level at the single feed of the machine at which the yarn is being fed to the needles and at which the needles are lowered to stitch forming level. The yarn taken by the needles a, b, of which there are six, during the first rotation of the needle cylinder is indicated at 10. It may be well to point out that the machine is provided with needle selecting means which will permit selected needles to pass the yarn feed at welt, tuck or latch clearing levels and that those needles not selected to be raised at the feed will continue to pass the same at the welt level,

In the second rotation of the needle cylinder, the six spaced needles ('1, b, and the now selected six intervening bare needles f, pass the feeding station at latch clearing level (the yarn course ll ll now being below the opened latches of needles a, b, and take yarn to form course 11 thereof, the needles a, b, forming stitches drawn over one'side of the yarn course as it is cast off from the needles a, b, .while the needles f simply tuck the yarn and draw it over the other side of the yarn course 10 without forming stitches, at this time, as shown in FIG. 2.The result of such action upon the yarn by the needles a, b, and f, in the two rotations of the needle cylinder is to form a starting selvage course, as may be seen in detail at the center of FIG. 9 wherein the yarn course 10 is not knitted, having been cast off from the spaced previously bare needles a, b, and which now appears as a turn of yarn within the stitches formed of the course lll.

It may be well to pause at this point in the description of the process to discuss the tension to be applied to the end 5a of the yarn 5. During the formation of the cour- I ses which malte up the product in FIGS. 9 and 10, the starting end of the yarn 5 is subjected to a sufficient amount of yieldable take-up tension by, for example, the apparatus of FIGS. 211, to subject the yarn in the courses as they are being formed to yam-robbing tension, with the result that these courses are progressively reduced in diameter and are accordingly circumferentially constructed. Such construction appears in FIG. 9 (and FIG. ill), where the selvage course 10, 11, andthe following courses 12 through 19 are of progressively increasing diameters so that the fabric, instead of being tubular in form, now is in the form of a flat circular area extending between, and covering, the bore of the needle cylinder. In FIG. 9 (and FIG. 10), the number of constructed courses made is not yet sufficient to provide for'the full closure of the opening shown inside the selvage course 10, 11, and this permits the stitch arrangement of the selvage course to be clearly illustrated. When a sufficientnumber of constructed courses have been made, the opening at the center of the fabric, as in FIGS. 11A, 12, 13, and 14, can be made of such a minimum diameter as to be practically invisible, or, if desired, by discontinuing the'tension upon the yarn 5a at the proper time, theopening may be made of any desired size. While the tension may be applied to the end of the yarn 5a after a number of courses have been knit, itmay also be applied as soon as a sufficient number of needles have taken the yarn and, in welt position, are holding it inside their lowered hooks and in the throats of the advanced sinkers so that the tension on the yarn 'will not initself cause slippage of the yarn I past such needles and sinkers.

Now to return to the process, in the third rotation of the needle cylinder, shown in FIG. 3, the same needles a, b, and f, take the yarn of course 12 and knit the stitches thereof. This same thing is repeated during the fourth and fifth rotations of the needle cylinder wherein the same needles, a, b, and f, take the yarn of courses 13 and 14 and knit the stitches thereof, as in FIG. 4.

In the sixth rotation of the needle cylinder, FIG. 5, the needles a,.b, and f, and the now selected intervening bare needles d and h, pass the feeding station at latch clearing level and take the yarn to form course 15 thereof, the needles a, b, and f, forming regular stitches in their wales while the needles d and h merely tuck the yarn as shown at 15a to start new wales. In the seventh, eighth and ninth rotations of the needle cylinder, FIG. 6, the same needles, a, b, f, d, and h, take the yarn of courses 16, 17, and 18, and knit the stitches thereof.

In the tenth revolution of the needle cylinder, FIG. 7, the needles. a, b, f, d, and h, and the now selected remaining intervening bare needles c, e, g, and i, pass the feeding station at latch clearing level and take the yarn to form course 19 thereof, the needles a, b, f, d, and h, forming regular stitches in their wales while the needles 0, e, g, and i, merely tuck the yarn as shown at 19a to start new wales. All of theneedles are now in action and in the eleventh rotation of the needle cylinder, FIG. 8, all the needles pass the feeding station at latch clearing level and take the yarn to form regular stitches in a full course 19b thereof. A sufficient number of courses similar to course 19b are then formed to permit the courses to be sufficiently constricted to close the opening at the center of the fabric 6 and which will now appear as in FIG. 11A. Once a sufficient number of courses have been knit upon all of the needles to form the circular fabric area 6, tension upon the yarn end 5a is discontinued and rotary knitting upon all of the needles continues, with or without a. yarn change, to form the adjoining tubular foot portion F of the hosiery. Thereafter, the reaminder of the hose, or of the product being made, may continue to be formed in any desired manner. Any desired type of yarn may be used in the formation of the fabric 6 including elastic yarn, stretch yarn of the l-lelanca type, or relatively nonstretch yarns. While the needle selection and activation of each series of bare needles has been described to indicate that such bare needles are evenly spaced and are midway between already active needles, it should be understood that they may be activated singly, or as a series in any desired pattern in any desired course of the fabric 6. It is desirable, however, that, in the formation of the selvage course 10, 11, a first group of single spaced needles take the yarn for course 10 and that a second group of single needles alternating with the needles of the first group be activated so that both groups take the yarn to form course 11. Any desired number of courses may be made upon already active needles before selecting other bare needles to join the active needles.

The product shown in FIG. 10 differs from that of FIG. 9 in that there are two full turns of the yarn 5, indicated at 10 and 10a, in the course 11 to form the selvage course. While two such turns of the yarn are shown, it will be understood that there may be more or less than plete turns of the yarn 5 may also be made. The formation of a multiple'number of turns of the yarn 5 in the selvage course will generally cause the fabric 6 to successfully resist opening up at the center thereof when pressure is exerted thereupon. In the making of the selvage course of FIG. 10, the needles a, b, are at the tuck level at the fed for the two rotations of the needle cylinder .to take yarn for the turns and 10a thereof, whereas in the making of the selvage course of FIG. 9, the needles a, b, may either be at the tuck or the latch clearing level for the single rotation of the needle cylinder to take the yarn for the single turn 10.

While the above-described product of FIG. 11A may be used by itself to form the toe pocket of hosiery as shown in FIG. 12, to form the toe pocket of hosiery as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 requires reciprocating knitting upon a number of needles generally about half, of the circle of needles to form narrowed and widened segments of fabric N after the discontinuance of the tension upon the yarn end 5a and prior to such further rotary knitting as may be required to form the foot portion F. In FIG. 13, the circular fabric 6 will thus be positioned above the toes of the nearer of the hose while the segment N will be positioned thereunder, whereas inFIG. 14 their positions will be reversed. The narrowed and widened segments N are made in the same manner in which narrowed and widened heel and toe pockets have heretofore been made upon circular knitting machines. Each segment N has the customary gore line Na therein and extends between the converging dot dash lines Nb and Ne which define the outline thereof. It is within the scope of the invention to have narrowed segments only in place of the narrowed and widened segments N in the toe pockets. The addition of the segments N, in juxtaposition to the fabric areas 6, increases the size of the toe pockets and permits the fabric areas 6 to be placed above or below the toes of the wearer of the hose, in which latter location it is not visible from above when the hose is being worn. The novel toe pocket may be shaped upon the customary hosiery forms and while it is here shown as having been made prior to the formation of the tubular fabric of the foot portion F to which it is joined, it should be understood that the invention is not so limited as to the order in which the novel toe pocket and the adjoining tubular fabric of the foot portion are to be made.

Coming now to the yarn tensioning attachment shown in FIGS. 15 21, its purpose is to exert the required tension upon the end 5a of the yarn 5 during the knitting of the latter in the process described in connection with FIGS. 1 10. The initial position of yarn end 5a, before being acted upon by the attachment, may be seen in FIGS. 15 and 18 wherein 21 indicates a customary dial plate disposed just above the needle cylinder 1 and upon which is supported a customary spring clamp 20 which holds the yarn end 5a between it and the dial 21, the yarn end 5a extending between the finger 7 and the clamp 20 when the yarn Sis not being used.

The tensioning attachment is provided with a downwardly extending hook 24 at the free end of its horizontally extending stern 24a, the other end of which is' secured to a horizontally movable slide 25, the latter moving radially toward and away from the needle circle along the line 27, FIG. 18, which extends through the center line 27a of the needle cylinder and which is generally normal to the yarn finger 7. The slide 25 is supported upon and is so movable longitudinally of a horizontally extendingrod 26 extending between, and supportedly engaged by opposite sides 31 and 31a of a generally U-shaped bracket which has a bottom side"3lb and an adjoining lateral brace 31c extending between, and secured to, the like faces of the sides 31, 31a, and 31b. The U-shaped bracket is itself suitably secured to a portion of the knitting machine frame shown at 32.

The slide is kept upright in its movement by means of a fork shaped member 28 secured to the underside of the slide and straddling a second guide rod 29 disposed in spaced parallel relation to the rod 26. The rod 29 also extends between, and is supportingly engaged by said sides 31 and 31a while the fork member 28 has an adjusting screw 28a threadedly engaged therein for engagement with the side 31a to limit the movement of the slide 25 toward the needle circle 1. The slide is movable between its forward position of FIGS. 15 and 18, wherein said book 24 passes through aperture 23 in latch ring 22 to extend within the needle circle to a position just under the periphery of dial plate 21, and its rearward position of FIGS. 16, 17, and 19, wherein said hook 24 moves past a vertically extending base 37a and being retained in said base by a cover plate 37b suitably secured thereto.

The base 37a is supporting secured to said bracket brace 31c, and the blade 37 is shown in raised open yarn receiving position in FIGS 16 and 20 and in lowered yarn clamping position in FIG. 17. The clamping blade 37, which has a yarn receiving opening 37c therein as shown in FIG. 20, is raised and lowered by means of a lever 38, FIG. 16, suitably pivotally mounted at the upper end of a bracket 38a which is supportingly secured to said brace 31c, the forward end 38c of said lever 38 extending through suitably formed vertically extending slots in said base 37a and plate 37b and through a suitably formed aperture in the blade 37 whereby raising and lowering of said end 380 will cause said blade 37 to be moved therewith. The end 380 of said lever is movable to its full line position to hold said blade 37 in its raised open position by means of a suitably disposed cable 38d operatively connected to and suitably arranged between the opposite end of lever 38 and the pattern drum D of the machine, a suitable cam on the drum acting to hold the lever 38 in its fullline position. The end 380 is movable to, and is held in its lowered phantom line position, when the drum D so permits, by a spring 38b anchored to the lever 38 and 

1. Method of knitting upon a circle of needles of a circular knitting machine which comprises holding the starting end of suitable yarn, interlacing the remainder of said yarn into first a selvage course and then knitting a plurality of following circular courses of said yarn by rotary knitting upon previously bare needles of said circle of needles whereby to form a circularly knit fabric, the initial end thereof including an opening as said courses are being knit, and exerting tension upon said starting end of said yarn during the formation of said courses thereby to reduce the diameters thereof and to close said opening in said fabric whereby the latter forms a circularly shaped fabric area extending across and covering the bore of said circle of needles.
 2. Method of claim 1 which includes forming a plurality of turns of said yarn in said selvage course.
 3. Method of claim 1 wherein said selvage course is formed upon a portion of the needles of said circle of needles and wherein said courses are formed upon progressively increasing numbers of needles the range of which is from said portion of the needles to all of the needles of said circle of needles.
 4. Method as in claim 3 wherein a number of courses of said pluraLity of courses are formed upon each of said progressively increased numbers of needles.
 5. Method as in claim 1 which includes discontinuing said tension upon said starting end of said yarn and knitting tubular fabric upon needles of said circle of needles.
 6. Method as in claim 5 wherein said circularly shaped fabric area and said tubular fabric constitute a foot portion of hosiery having a closed toe pocket provided by said circularly shaped fabric area and having instep and sole areas provided by said tubular fabric.
 7. Method as in claim 1 which includes discontinuing said tension upon said starting end of said yarn and reciprocatingly knitting a plurality of partial courses upon a portion of the needles of said circle of needles to form an additional fabric area in juxtaposed relation to said circularly shaped fabric area, and knitting tubular fabric upon needles of said circle of needles.
 8. Method as in claim 7 wherein said juxtaposed fabric areas and said tubular fabric constitute a foot portion of hosiery having a closed toe pocket provided by said juxtaposed fabric areas and having instep and sole areas provided by said tubular fabric, said pocket having under-the-toe and over-the-toe sides of which one of said sides is provided by said additional fabric area and the other of which is provided by said circularly shaped fabric area.
 9. In a circular knitting machine of the type including a needle cylinder and a yarn guide, the improvement comprising means to knit a yarn into a flat, single ply, circular disc of fabric covering the bore of said needle cylinder, said means including the combination of a needle activating means for activating only a first group of needles while feeding the starting end of a yarn thereto to form a first course of fabric and thereafter activating said first group and progressively increasing numbers of groups of needles during knitting of successive courses during the formation of said fabric disc whereby the number of wales in the courses of said fabric disc progressively increases, and a yarn tensioning means engaging said starting end of said yarn and withdrawing said yarn outwardly from said needle cylinder during knitting of said disc to diametrically constrict the courses of said fabric disc whereby a central opening in said disc is gradually closed as said disc is formed.
 10. A knitting machine as in claim 9 having a first clamp to hold said starting end of said yarn prior to knitting said fabric, said means yarn tensioning having a second clamp and being operative to transfer said starting end of said yarn from said first to said second clamp to be held therein whereby said starting end of said yarn extends between said guide and said first clamp prior to said knitting of said fabric and whereby said starting end of said yarn extends between its point of engagement with said fabric and said second clamp during said knitting of said fabric.
 11. A knitting machine as in claim 10 wherein said first clamp is inside said circle of needles and wherein said second clamp is spaced therefrom.
 12. A knitting machine as in claim 10 having an additional guide for said starting end of said yarn.
 13. A knitting machine as in claim 12 wherein said additional guide is positioned adjacent the periphery of said circle of needles.
 14. A knitting machine as in claim 12 having a latch ring and wherein said additional guide constitutes an aperture in said latch ring.
 15. A knitting machine as in claim 12 wherein said starting end of said yarn extends directly from said guide to said first clamp prior to said transfer of said starting end of said yarn and wherein said starting end of said yarn extends from said guide to, and through, said additional guide to said second clamp after said transfer of said starting end of said yarn.
 16. A knitting machine as in claim 10 wherein said circle of needles rotate and wherein certain of said needles are operative to take said yarn whereby said yarn extends between said guide And said rotating certain needles prior to said transfer of said starting end of said yarn, said yarn tensioning means having a hook and being operative to cause said hook to engage and to pull said yarn extending between said guide and said certain needles thereby to transfer said starting end of said yarn from said first to said second clamp.
 17. A knitting machine as in claim 16 having an additional guide for said so-extending end of said yarn, and wherein said yarn tensioning means is operative to cause said hook to engage and to pull said yarn extending between said guide and said certain needles through said additional guide thereby to transfer said starting end of said yarn from said first to said second clamp.
 18. A knitting machine as in claim 10 having means to sever said starting end of said yarn between its point of engagement with said fabric and said second clamp whereby a waste portion of said yarn remains in said clamp.
 19. A knitting machine as in claim 18 having means to remove said waste yarn from said second clamp and to discard the same.
 20. A circular knitting machine according to claim 9 wherein said yarn tensioning means includes a clamping means for holding the initial portion of said starting end that is not knit into the fabric and a movable member selectively engageable with the yarn end at a point between said clamp and said fabric for applying a yieldable tension thereto during the formation of said circular disc of fabric. 